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Friday, June 17, 2011

Friday Mishmash

Sometimes I amaze myself with my brilliance. (Please read MUCH sarcasm in that last sentence). Do you know that as of yesterday, we've lived in our current house for 11 years? And also, even though my kitchen is plenty big, do you know that I've struggled with fitting all of my crap dishes, glasses, etc in the cabinets the entire time we've lived here? Would you believe that it never occurred to me that the cabinets on one wall might be wider than the cabinets on the other wall? Well. Turns out they are. Who knew?!? Obviously not me, until last weekend. The straw that broke the camel's back was my new Fiestaware lunch plates - I'm probably the last person on the planet to join the "smaller plate" club, but finally, I'm in, with the purchase of two plates. (Truth be told, I only paid for one as Kohl's periodically sends out "spend $10, get $10 off cards, and I am the queen of spending only $10 and getting my stuff for free...but this time, I actually bought an additional plate, so I got two for $10. More than you wanted to know, I'm sure...) Anyway, before I so rudely interrupted myself, I could not fit these plates into my cabinet. No how, no way, and it looked like I was going to have to separate my pretty Fiestaware. But wait! I finally thought to LOOK at my cabinets, and my problem was solved! Well, after I moved everything. Turns out, sometimes you just need to look at a problem with a different set of eyes to find a solution.

The narrower cabinet:

Dish cabinet before

Now the bakeware/bowls/water bottle cabinet! And yes, the tower of cake platters is crazy - I really should see if I can order an extra shelf.

The wider cabinet:

Before...

And after! I can breathe again - why didn't I see this sooner?!?

In the midst of doing this, I mucked out a bunch of things that we haven't used in forever, and in the process, now have a cabinet that has extra space! And I'm not planning on filling it anytime soon, either:

Not pictured is another cabinet where the coffee mugs/travel mugs and regular glasses are - ironically enough, I thought to place them over the spot where the coffee maker is. Another shot of brilliance - I'm telling you, I felt like I could have joined Mensa last weekend!

Oh - I did have one little problem - my big yellow bowl, that I use for everything from tossing salads to making granola, didn't fit into the smaller "bowl" cabinet:

Works for me. :)

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Do you ever run into people who knew you back when you were overweight? I had that experience yesterday at a health expo - I was there helping out with our running club's booth, and then afterward, Erica and I walked around. I was wearing my new 10K "Stay Fit" shirt and a pair of shorts, and ran into a guy who I used to work for back in 2004/2005. I was probably even bigger back then than I was when I started my diet in 2008, if that tells you anything. I did see him over the holidays when he came into the jewelry store that I worked at, but this time, I was not all "wintered up" in my clothes (you know - black slacks, heavy sweater). I just wonder what he must have said to people after I left - something along the lines of "you should have SEEN this woman before" or "damn, she looking fiiine!" - LOL. Probably nothing, in actuality. I have an active imagination.

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Oh, and also? In the pool yesterday I had to share a lane for the first time - ugh. The college-age girl who I was swimming with trapped me and an older gentleman who walks laps in the pool and had to tell us all about her fantastic weight-loss system that she had discovered and how it had revolutionized her life. But really. Honey. I get that you're enthusiastic. However, you don't know where people are in their lives. Or how far they've come. I would never presume that the older man, who is overweight, needs to be informed of this - who knows...maybe he's already lost a bunch of weight? And what the hell - did she think I needed to lose weight?!? I am mock indigent, of course, having seen myself in a swimsuit, but really people...keep it to yourself unless someone asks. /off soapbox.

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Yesterday was our 27th wedding anniversary. We celebrated it by going out for the early bird special at Texas Roadhouse and of course, Red Mango frozen yogurt. A little ironic, considering we bought a new grill with the money my parents sent us for our anniversary (and Jeff's birthday (next week) - June is a big month for us). But hey - while we like grilling, we are terrible at steaks. And that's what we wanted last night. Here's a couple pictures of our new Weber Q:

So cute! And it's portable, should we want to tailgate.

Grilling chicken tenders, which I burned a little (talent, I haz it) and pineapple spears (yum).

I liked that the grill slots are much narrower than our old grill (a cheapie that rusted away in three years - here's hoping the Weber does better than that) - I can throw veggies on it and not lose them through the grill like I used to.

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We are off to Denton this weekend to visit the boys and help our younger son, Max, with his new apartment. Luckily the only thing we have to put together is his new desk (from Ikea, of course). I'm sure he could handle it on his own, but it will be fun to help. Or help by watching, as is my plan. The other thing that I'm excited about is that we will pick up MY new desk while we're up there - Jeff and the boys pitched in to get me set up with a new desk (and drawers!!!!!) for my birthday gift. This will replace the desk we bought when we first got married - its' single drawer has frustrated me for years, and it isn't the sturdiest thing anymore. I can't wait to get it built and organize my office!

Sometimes a good reorganise feels fantastic and makes you wonder 'what have I been thinking all this time?'. I understand running into people from the past and having them see you or react to you differently. My situation is the opposite though. After falling ill and gaining the 30plus kilos we moved back to my home town. People who now see me remember me when I was fit and healthy and known as being 'really good at sports'. They can't get their head around how I am now and some even avoid me. Weird. It's not catching people! I'm loving your swimming posts and am working to get back into the water myself. This is so long it should have been an email!

You tell Jeff that when I come to TX I am going to show him how to grill a steak and he'll never want to go out for one again! In fact I've got a method to do the whole meal on the grill, including the potato!

Reorganizing is the BEST, and finding new ways to fit everything into the correct space is really smart. Hmm, I have similar problems with the food versus the plate cabinets; I wonder if switching them would help? Thanks for the idea!

Honestly, I think you should have just said to the girl at the pool, "I lost 100 pounds and have kept it off. I know about revolutionary diets, thanks." And then gotten out of the pool and walked away. Just to shut her up for good! :)

Lemme guess ~ the college age girl was a "beach body coach" and she was selling Shakeology? I hear wonderful things about the P90X program and admittedly, the shakes are phenomenal but I refuse to use them out of principle because the "coaches" are so dang pushy!!! Grrrr. Pet Peeve of mine!~Jessicahttp://healthyfor100.blogspot.com

Your cupboard project is pretty inspiring...I had to clean our cupboards and organize when we put this house on the market. Geesh, it's so much work but yours look awesome!Sounds like you're going to have a fun weekend Happy Anniversay!

I have Fiestaware too, I love it! Great job with the cabinet reorganization. And Happy Anniversary!

Speaking of people from the past, a friend told me the other day that she was looking at pictures of me on facebook and she doesn't remember me being so "big" (she meant FAT!). She has known me for 20 years, regular sized, then fat, and now regular sized. I'm glad she doesn't remember!

I often think if I moved in to my home all over again tomorrow, I wonder how I would see things in terms of decorating and such. I might not really be 'seeing' anymore.......I need fresh eyes.

Re cool yellow bowl. Are your cabinet shelves adjustable? If so it looks like there might be a mate to the yellow bowl in the cupboard. Maybe they could 'nest' if the shelf went up a bit. Just a thought.

Love getting the tour of your cabinets.I can't believe that girl was trying to share her weight loss "secrets." I think I would have asked her why she was telling you that. Did she think you need to lose weight? People can be frustrating sometimes.

What a cute grill!! Ours is dead. :( We have an old smokey now. So I have a little grill envy right now. LOL

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